Chicken to the Rescue 2: Rich Stock

Remember your carrot peelings and fennel fronds and cores? Those celery leaves and chicken bones? You get to use them to make something that is truly more than the sum of its parts and will make you feel good about yourself for using every last scrap of your food!

Rich Chicken Stock

Chicken carcass & bones, plus any veggies inside cavity

Raw onion roughly chopped

2 ribs celery, celery leaves etc chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

Fennel fronds, cores, any other veggie tops or clean peelings or leftover bits

3 bay leaves

3 quarts water

Chuck it all into your slow cooker and set to low for 20 hours. If you think of it, you can cruise by after 8-10 hours and use a potato masher to smush the bones and release extra gelatinous goodness, then cover and keep cooking. When you are done it will be all gorgeous and a golden caramel color

Strain through a fine mesh sieve to get out bones and veggie bits, store in jars in the fridge. You can skim off the fat when it cools if you like(I don’t mind it). It is truly a cut above any broth I’ve had. I’ll drink it plain when feeling under the weather, and it is a fabulous base for vegetable, chicken or any other soup you can name!